


The Average Prince

by mistykasumi (oultrepreu)



Category: Fairytales
Genre: 1000-3000 words, Gen, Yuletide
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-12-20
Updated: 2008-12-20
Packaged: 2017-10-03 10:44:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,152
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17172
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oultrepreu/pseuds/mistykasumi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The tale of a prince who received no blessings at his christening.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Average Prince

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Elentiriel for [](http://community.livejournal.com/yuletide/profile)[**yuletide**](http://community.livejournal.com/yuletide/) 2008.

Once upon a time-actually, not so long ago-a prince was born. Although his parents, the king and queen, sent invitations to his christening to all the fairies of the land, none came, for the king and queen of a nearby kingdom (which was larger, richer, and much more well-known throughout the land) had decided to christen their newborn daughter on the same day. While the princess grew to be the most beautiful, the wittiest, and the most talented at song, among other superlatives (although a nasty curse was placed upon her as well), the prince grew to be rather average (though he did manage to be above average in certain traits and skills).

This did not prove to be a problem until the prince came of age. The princesses of the land, all of whom had been blessed by fairies, scoffed at the prince, finding him too average for their enchanted superlative abilities, and the princesses' parents rejected his proposals because his kingdom was smaller and poorer than theirs. After the fifteenth rejection, his mother thought to try a tale she had heard when her son was just a toddler. She put a pea under the mattress of each girl in the castle in the hopes that one of them would prove to be a princess and would be overjoyed to marry the prince. Alas, no girl complained in the morning about sleeping problems save for the chambermaid, who dreamt that a man was watching her while she slept every time she fell asleep, and the queen found nothing more than a crushed pea underneath every mattress when she went to check.

Not knowing what else to do, the king and queen sent their son on a quest for a princess who needed a prince, the type who appeared in the special section of the paper every Wednesday. The prince set off on the plainest horse his parents could find (as they doubted his ability to fend off attackers who would be drawn to a rich horse and could not afford to pay ransom amounts that were determined by the wealth of other kingdoms), taking with him a Magical Flute (which his father had received in his youth, although his father had never been able to figure out its magical properties; it must be magical, however, because the king had received it from a fairy).

The prince wandered for a long time without avail because he had not been blessed with superior luck or navigational skills. After several months, he chanced upon another prince in a tavern. This prince had been blessed with a handsome figure, an intelligent mind, and many other superlatives, but he treated our prince quiet nicely because he had also been blessed with a pleasant disposition. After some small bits of conversation, the two found that they were both on a quest for a princess and, both being pleasant individuals, decided to journey together.

With a new friend, our prince continued his journey, and although this new friend, with his fancy horse and clothing, attracted a fair number of muggers our prince's plain horse and clothing had kept away, the other prince had been blessed with great physical strength as well, and he easily kept back the attackers.

After a few weeks of travelling without results, the two princes found themselves in a wood. They happened upon a tower set deep within it after a few days and heard a most glorious singing. Try as they might, however, they could not find a way to enter and could only content themselves with the marvellous song.

The two princes discussed this new finding that night and decided they would stay for a few days, for surely there was some way to enter the tower, or the girl would have been long dead already. They returned at different times each day, but as the other prince had not been blessed with great luck, either, they found nothing new each time.

A few days became a week, and finally, they arrived to see an old woman climbing down the tower on hair of an immense length. They swore to return earlier the next day and discover how the old woman climbed up the hair. On the way to the tower the next day, however, our prince noticed a trail of pearls and diamonds a small distance away, and knowing the wealth they could add to his kingdom's meagre treasury, our prince became distracted by them, separating from the other prince without realizing it in order to follow the trail, picking up the jewels all the while.

The trail of jewels ended abruptly at a clearing, and our prince had enriched his kingdom quite nicely. However, he was now lost, being completely separated from the other prince and lacking superior navigational skills. While the other prince learned how to climb up the girl's hair, our prince could only continue travelling through the wood, alone.

The prince continued his journey, but he never could seem to escape the wood. Months passed, and he found himself still within trees, although he found no lack of food or shelter. Ruminating upon his terrible lack of luck or navigational skills one day, for he still had yet to find treeless ground, the prince realized that he must be trapped in The Wood, the one that was often featured in the special section of the Wednesday paper. Yet just as he felt heartened by the realization that he had found the right place, the prince was immediately disheartened by remembering that the only reason he was in The Wood was because of his lack of luck or navigational skills, both of which he probably needed to find a princess in peril.

Depressed, the prince drew out his Magical Flute, figuring that at least he could cheer himself up with some music (which was one of his above average talents) even if the flute was not magical (our prince didn't know, for he hadn't felt the need to play it before, but the other prince had played it, and nothing had happened). The melody soothed him somewhat, and he slept rather soundly that night.

When the prince awoke the next morning, he found that the trees around him had wilted, and looking up, he could see the spire of a castle in the far distance. With his trusty Magical Flute, the prince wilted a path to the castle, where he awoke a beautiful sleeping princess with a kiss.

The prince took his new wife and new wealth back to his kingdom, where his parents threw him a grand feast upon his bountiful return, and they all lived happily ever after. The other prince lived happily ever after, too, with the girl in the tower (of course, for she had been blessed), but first he went blind and wandered the wastelands of his country for months.

08.12.20


End file.
